Wadalba Community School

Progress with Pride Respect Responsibility Excellence

Orchid Way, Wadalba 2259 P O Box 294, Wyong NSW 2259 T: 0243925000 F: 0243925046

Email: wadalba-c.school@det.nsw.edu.au Website: http://www.wadalba-c.schools.nsw.edu.au/

Principal: Mr Jason McGrath

Deputy Principals: Ms Carol Furey Mr Cameron Dusting Mr Nathan Towney Ms Jane Harris

Term 2 Week 8

Important dates to put in your calendar.

23/6/2014 NAIDOC Week

24/6/2014 Careers Expo

25/6/2014 NAIDOC Assembly

25/6/2014 HSC Drama workshop

25/6/2014 Zone Athletics

26/6/2014 K-6 Reports sent home

27/6/2014 Last day of school

15/7/2014 Students return

Principal Report

“I can say with confidence that you are probably the best generation we have ever had and you can all make the world a better place” The Governor of New South Wales, Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO, Wadalba Community School, 12 June 2014. We thank the Governor for her wonderful visit to our school. It was a great day and it was terrific to see so many students engage directly with Her Excellency. Our children and young people were extremely respectful and enthusiastic. The pride they showed by simply being themselves was remarkable. Congratulations to the students and their families who were recognised by the Governor. Thank you to all of the students, staff and

community who supported the occasion. Our Year 1 class summarised the key messages from the Governor’s talk as:

she told us that love and respect always go together

Her Excellency said we should always care for other people and that is what makes us good Australians.

she was really nice and looked happy sitting on the stage looking at us all.

Parent Teacher Nights We are currently finalising and distributing Semester One reports for students in preparation for our Parent Teacher Nights. This is an important opportunity to provide a clear picture of your child’s achievements and how we can work in partnership to support your child’s future learning. I would like to thank staff for their work as part of the assessment, feedback and reporting cycle and acknowledge the added demands on their own families’ work/ life balance. We look forward to working closely with families and students to set learning goals for Semester two. Deputy Principal Report Half Yearly Reports are currently being distributed to students.

These reports provide parents with feedback from assessment tasks and Half Yearly exams. Information contained in the reports includes how well students have met course outcomes as well as Social Development and Commitment to Learning. All these areas are indicators of how well your child is progressing at school, both academically and socially. We encourage all parents to meet with their child’s teachers at the upcoming Parent and Teacher Nights. Year 7, 11 and 12 Parent nights will be held next Wednesday, June 25th and Year 8, 9 and 10 Parent’s night will be held early in Term Two. Year 11 can expect a very busy Term 3. They will have completed all assessment tasks and have their final exams for their Preliminary course. It is important that they are ranked as highly as possible in each of their courses as they move into the HSC course in Term 4. Year Advisors and Deputy Principals have been reviewing attendance data and following up with students with a relatively high number of absences or partial absences. We encourage Parents to maintain a committed partnership with the school to ensure students are attending each day. Research indicates that improving attendance has a strong correlation to improved outcomes for students.

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Deputy Principals have also been visiting classes and speaking about the importance of students being prepared for each lesson they attend. This includes having the right books, pens, calculators, art supplies etc. It is a worthwhile process to check that your student is bringing their equipment each day and to have a look at their books as an indicator of how well they are engaged with their lessons. Have they completed each lesson’s work and do they demonstrate and understanding of that work? Teachers, Year Advisors and Deputy Principals have identified students for the role of Student Voice Ambassadors in each Year group. Congratulations to those students. The role of student Ambassadors is to provide increased opportunities for students in leadership roles in the school. I wish all students and families a happy and safe break in the upcoming holiday period. Cameron Dusting, Deputy Principal.

HSIE Year 11 Geography have just returned from an overnight trip to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park where they stayed at the Gibberagong Environmental Education Centre at Bobbin Head. Over the 2 days, students conducted fieldwork activities that helped consolidate their in-class learning. Students were responsible for preparation of meals and completion of tasks over the 2 days. For a bit of relaxation and fun they were able to participate in a canoeing activity in the afternoon. On the second day they had to make use of their learning from day one and produce a 3 minute film

using the iMovie program on iPads supplied by the centre. Feedback from students suggests that they took away all positives from the 2 days. The behaviour and attitude of these students was outstanding and they are to be congratulated on the excellence, respect and responsibility they demonstrated. Some information will be placed on the school website as well. Thank you to Mr Hancock for assisting over the 2 days. Mr Allanson has provided a report on the HSC study day that his Modern History students participated in last Friday. Year 10 HSIE are about to receive a permission note to attend a fieldwork day at Terrigal Beach and Terrigal Lagoon on the 23rd and 24th of July. This is a valuable and enjoyable day for students. All students are required to participate in some fieldwork related activities in stage 5. There will be one bus, (maximum 58 students) on Wednesday the 23 July, and one bus (maximum 58 students on Thursday 24 July.

The first students to return their permission notes and money (total cost $13) will be the ones to attend. Those that do not get their notes and money in will have to complete an activity at school in their own time to satisfy course requirements. Please encourage your children to take part in this day. Reports are now completed and while a number of students continue to perform well and show respect for each other and their teachers in the classroom there are a number of other students that need to take more responsibility for their own learning. It would be good if these students viewed school as their place of work and developed the skills they will need to take into the workplace.

Have a safe and relaxing break – Ms Clark, Mr Hancock, Ms Moes and myself are all looking forward to our trip to Vietnam with 14 of our amazing students. We leave at about 10:30 on the first day of the holidays (28 June) and return to Australia on Tuesday the 8th of July. Jenny Bennett HT HSIE Year 7 News Year 7 has had an extremely busy term so far and many of our students have been working hard in the classroom. In recognising their achievements I would like to acknowledge the following students who achieved a Bronze award. They were presented their certificate at the Positive Assembly during Week 6. Well done to all of the students. Will Grogan Amber Bolton

Hope Chate Hannah McCormack

Olivia Matthews Kyle Von Pralitz

Rose Antony Tia Boylan

Molly Kelly Michael Knight

Paris Webster Madison Camilleri

Elissa Hulm Andrew Halton

Samara Powell Jasmin Burgess

Aaron Laksa Joey Liddle

Jyden Vella

SRC and Ambassadors The two students who will represent Year 7 in 2014 are Amber Bolton and Bailey Hatcher. Congratulations and well done. To aid the SRC represent the school it was decided to have 10 school ambassadors to help showcase the wonderful things happening at Wadalba Community School. The following students were presented with their badges last Wednesday at the Positive Assembly in front of their peers.

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Rorey Rizzi Mikayla Roufogalis

Josh Collins Maddison Chivas

Jake Carey Heather Fonti

Jack Hill Abbigail Fitzpatrick

Aaron Laksa Amber Bolton

Well done to all the students involved. Keep striving to achieve. Jade McLachlan Year 7 Advisor "Year 12 Modern History HSC Study Day Excursion On Friday 13 June, students from our Year 12 Modern History class attended a HSC Study Day at Sydney University. After a very early start, the students attended valuable sessions on key topics covered in their HSC course. These sessions included one on their Personality Study on Leni Reifenstahl, one on their National Study on Germany between WWI and WWII, and a final session on the HSC exam structure and hints and advice on exam techniques. The sessions were run by experts in each of the fields with vast experience, not only in the subject content, but also the delivery at HSC level. The excursion was a wonderful opportunity for the students to gain a greater perspective on the course. They gained helpful tips from a variety of people who boast a wealth of knowledge on HSC Modern History. Students also took the opportunity to interact with students from other schools and learn about the diversity of students that will be sitting the very same exam during the HSC. All of our students were deeply engaged in the presentations and acted as fantastic ambassadors for

the school, proudly demonstrating our core values of Respect, Responsibility and Excellence. Steven Allanson

(HSIE)

CENTRAL COAST DANCE

FESTIVAL – LAYCOCK THEATRE

Dance groups are busy rehearsing,

refining their performances for the

Central Coast Dance Festival. The

High School will be represented by

Yr10 Dance Group and a combined

Yrs7 / 8 Dance Group. Yr10 will

perform a lyrical modern ‘Time To

Let It Go’ and the junior group an

up-tempo jazz, ‘Move’. ‘Move’ has

been choreographed by Yr11

students Olivia Walsh and April

Boylan who are completing Dance

as an HSC subject. The Dance

Festival is held each year at Laycock

Theatre and offers students the

opportunity to rehearse and

perform in a professional theatre

environment with students from

public schools across the Central

Coast. Dancers and

Choreographers are to be

congratulated for their efforts in

preparing for this year’s Dance

Festival. They have given up their

lunch times to rehearse and are all

looking forward to representing

Wadalba Community School in

their upcoming performances

(Friday 20th and Monday 23 June).

Chookas to all the dancers, from

Mrs Stone and Mrs Bell!!

Kayla Harvey, Rhia Cartwright,

Bree Collier, Jacqualine Baker,

Presley Rawling, Maddison Chivas,

Tia Boyan, Amber Bolton, Leah

Barlow, Kristy-Rose Milson,

Jordan Hawkins, Sarah Ghazawy,

Natalia Zurobski, Katelyn

Puckeridge, Jemma Robertson,

Madison Smith, Taylee Ross

Debra Bell Learning and Support Teacher

Finals of the Public Speaking Competition The finals will take place in the Primary hall at 1:30 on 22nd July. There are 5 finalists from each of Stages 1 -3 (who will have a note sent home) who will present their speeches to the audience. I encourage anyone to attend as spectators (not just family) to get an idea of what a great speech sounds like.

Kylie Snell

4/5S

On Thursday 12th June, Dame Marie

Bashir– Governor of NSW for the past

13 years, was an honoured guest and

visitor in our school. She came to

attend a Formal Assembly recognising

our foundation students, and experi-

ence our wonderful public education

facilities.

During her time here, she met with

Principals past and present, the SRC,

Primary classes and the Multi Cat

Unit.

She was delighted with the learning

environment and the students who

occupied her time.

She found them to be as genuine and

friendly as they found her.

The Governor thoroughly enjoyed the Formal Assembly, where she

witnessed the depth and breadth of the cultural richness our school

possesses. From the opening rhythms of the secondary Didge group,

to the enthusiasm of the Kindy Choir, and the performance of an origi-

nal song by the CAPA GATS Group who also feature on the first WCS

CD which was released at the assembly, it really was amazing to

witness.

After formal proceedings concluded,

The Governor enjoyed speaking with

the Foundation Staff and Students and

our School and Vice Captains. Though

they were generations apart, they

found common ground in their belief

that it takes a good person to be a good

leader. It also takes perseverance and

commitment; two characteristics which

she strongly encouraged in our senior

students.

She noted the pride in which the school

and the students were presented on the

day, and commended them on the work

they were doing to make WCS a positive

learning environment.

Foundation staff members, former Principal Lance

Godwin, Deputy Principal Carol Furey and beginning

Kindergarten teacher Mrs Amanda Shaw, were also

acknowledged and their efforts in launching the

school and guiding it’s first students from kindergar-

ten through to Yr12 applauded.

The Governor fondly recalled her own time at

school as some of the best years of her life, forging

lifelong friendships through the shared experience

of learning. Our students were encouraged to put

equal time and energy into school, family and

friendships to keep a happy balance. Wise words!

Above: Mrs Carol Furey, Ryan Frame, Mrs Amanda Shaw, Harley Baillo, The Governor

Dame Marie, Mr Lance Godwin, Tahlia Boylan, Marc Shaw, and Jason Grinsted.

Below: Dylan Dawson, The Governor, Mr Stan Baric and a very pleased Brett Marlow,

from the Multi Cat Unit.

And a final word of appreciation received this week.